Posted November 25, 200717 yr Welcome to York, England. It's a relatively small city of less than 200,000 residents. Yet its historical importance cannot be overstated. It was an important fortress city in the era of the Vikings, the Romans, the Scots and more. It was and is the center of a prosperous agricultural region called Yorkshire where many of England's elite lived and live. It is also one of the best preserved cities, and portions of it within its medieval wall haven't changed much structurally or architecturally in 500 years. That was when towns were built almost exclusively for pedestrians, while farmers used horse-drawn carts and the elite rode in carriages. It meant narrow streets with every land use imaginable placed within minutes' walk of each other. That's especially true of the area along a very narrow street called The Shambles. It's what one would expect to find in an English city in 1507, not 2007. But here it is.... Here's a pub from the 1100s where we at dinner our first of three nights in York (in May 2007)... The bed-n-breakfast we stayed at in York... The sun sets on our first night in York... Even away from The Shambles, York's narrow streets belong to the pedestrians.... Just in case the streets and closes of York don't entertain visitors enough, there's always a street performer around somewhere... Close quarters and pedestrians seem to characterize York. Here's a whole bunch of pictures showing that characterization... There's also some pretty distractions from the architecture... Another thing that York is known for is Yorkminister -- one of the grandest cathedrals in all of Europe. It's 1,000 years old, but its history goes back twice as far. In the basement are catacombs in which Roman soldiers are buried. And you can visit them. I didn't take pictures down there, but I did take photos elsewhere in this cathedral that's an incredible work of art.... As with many other European cities, the oldest part of York is surrounded by a wall. This is one of the gates in York's wall, and probably its most ornate.... Even outside the wall, in the "suburbs," are some terrific homes... And, of course, I have to show you York's 130-year-old station and its unique curving trainshed. More than 450 trains call at this station each day which sees more than 5 million passengers per year (more than the number of Amtrak passengers who use Chicago Union Station). Yours truly, with an astonished look on his face... That's all for York. I also have some pictures of the tremendous National Railway Museum in York, but I posted those in Part II of my European railway pictures. Just use the search function here on Urban Ohio. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 25, 200717 yr Wow. Anyone know what the densest city in Europe is? I know Holland is the densest region.. Those are some narrow narrow streets.
November 25, 200717 yr I don't know, but I would guess the densest city would be southern European- Athens, Madrid, Naples, Constantinople (probably the most likely). York looks amazing. It is a northern counterpart to the Italian Hilltowns.
November 25, 200717 yr ^Athens and Istanbul are definately front-runners. It's almost...Swiss. But less expensive. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 26, 200717 yr This is a great place to visit. I'd also recommend Salisbury, Chester, Shrewsbury and Winchester. These places were important during the medieval and Tudor period but never industrialised to any significant level. Hence the Victorians never knocked down/remodelled the centre and they have been pretty well preserved. You may find the odd 60s brutalist atrocity but on the whole they look very good indeed.
November 26, 200717 yr http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrewsbury http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worcester http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford Some more nice English towns from the medieval period
November 26, 200717 yr nice to see. i tried to get back for around christmas, but i couldnt find tix for less than $800. and of course the dollar sucks when you get there. ugh.
November 29, 200717 yr This is a great place to visit. I'd also recommend Salisbury, Chester, Shrewsbury and Winchester. On the same trip I also went to Salisbury and Chester. I've posted pictures of Salisbury on this forum but not of Chester -- yet. nice to see. i tried to get back for around christmas, but i couldnt find tix for less than $800. and of course the dollar sucks when you get there. ugh. I'm going back in March. The air fares are $400-something round trip from Cleveland to Bristol! Please tell me that's not a fanny pack. :-P It is. It's where I kept the digital video/still camera. Very convenient. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 30, 200717 yr A) That fanny pack rocks. B) That is an amazing looking town... especialy The Shambles. C) Oh how I wish we had a decent train system.
December 1, 200717 yr Of all the cities and towns we visited in the UK last May, York was our favorite. And we visited A LOT of cities and towns in our two weeks of traveling around -- from the English Channel to North Yorkshire, and from the Irish Sea to the North Sea. We drove, took trains, buses, boats, subways, trams, taxis and did lots of walking. Perhaps my second favorite was Aberystwyth, Wales (it was a totally stunning surprise we discovered by making a wrong turn!). See... West Coast of United Kingdom http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php?topic=13132.0 "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
Create an account or sign in to comment